Ha! Even though almonds have been mentioned before on the blog here, they are certainly worth a second mention. It’s all about milk today: almond milk. Yes, OF COURSE you CAN just buy almond milk from the store but it’s even MORE FUN (and fairly easy) to make it yourself!

1. Buy some really good almonds.
2. Rinse those really good almonds.
3. Let said almonds soak up to 48 hours in clean water.
4. Drain and rinse almonds
5. Place almonds in Vitamix or equivalent thereof.
6. Add enough new/clean water in to cover almonds. (More water makes a waterier milk, less makes a creamier milk)
7. Mix almonds and water until almonds are completely chopped.
8. Strain milk through cheesecloth to remove solids.
9. Enjoy (within a few days or you will end up with a booger-like mucous to deal with).
And voila- excellent almond milk.

In Chinese medicine we use almonds to boost lung function, improve qi and blood levels, relieve a cough, transform phlegm and to lower rebellious qi.

Okay, it’s high time to let everyone know (who hasn’t heard it yet from visiting the practice that is!) about a great website that will give you the full…ahem, skinny…regarding the nutrition of any given food. I recommend it for patients needing to eat a low inflammatory diet or a low carb diet or a high protein diet or a diet good for weight loss or a low glycemic diet or for anyone wanting to know which foods are the most nutritious and filling and so on. In other words, how ever you want to tweak your diet, or if you are just interested in learning what your week to week eating is doing for you, this is a very useful thing.

Hint: look for the- enter a food name in the upper right side of your screen to get started. I recommend trying both wild chinook salmon as well as milk chocolate to see good ranges between inflammatory and non-inflammatory foods.

What foods did you try? Did you find anything that surprised you? Have fun with it and let us know what you find out in the comments section!